[I was] a mentally ill teenager who had been groomed and preyed upon and sexually exploited online to the point of authorities getting involved.
I spiralled into a hatred of myself and my body, and was told that it was just because I was a boy born in the wrong body, and that this would fix me.
I was affirmed down a path where I wasn't given any other choice as to what would help me. The very first medical intervention I ever had was a double mastectomy at 16. And then a few months later, I was put on testosterone.
I'm now 21, and I will live with the impacts of that so-called care for the rest of my life. In the past 4 or 5 months, I have watched as my body has fallen apart in front of me. My joints constantly hurting, my vocal chords aching, watching as parts of me atrophy away before my very eyes.
And yet, at 16, they looked me in the eyes and they told me this was care. They told me it would save me.
Despite the fact I was never suicidal, my parents were baited with the idea of "would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?" Bullied into going along with it, their biggest crime being trusting those who they thought took an oath to "do no harm."
It's not about "hate," detransitioning, it never has been. It's about keeping kids whole. I've worked with children, I've seen them explore the world, and I've seen that magic that they have. And doing something like transitioning them takes that away.
How can you look me in the eyes and tell me that a child can consent to being chained to an experimental medical industry before they're even old enough to drive, or understand the impacts of what that means in the first place?
Kids deserve to be kids. They deserve to get to explore the world as a safe and loving place.
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It's disturbing that the position "don't mutilate kids" requires bravery.
Today is a great day to think of what you'll say when you're asked why you went along with it.
